CHRISTOPHER FUJINO / MOANALUA HIGH SCHOOL
Moanalua High School's Symphonic Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Elden Seta, was invited to play at last week's All-Japan International Wind Band Conference in Hamamatsu, Japan, the only international band invited to this year's conference.

Moanalua band
trips Japan

The high school students’ 10-day
excursion was preceded by intense,
determined practices

Moanalua High School's Symphonic Wind Ensemble recently received the privilege of playing in the All-Japan International Wind Band Conference in Hamamatsu, Japan.

The 10-day trip, which took place over the school's spring vacation last week, was the first for the ensemble of students in grades 9 through 12.

Last April, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble sent audition tapes to the various organizations and received an invitation to the Hamamatsu conference.

Three to four international bands are normally selected to participate in this conference, but this year, Moanalua's was the only international band performing.

While this particular conference was a competition, Moanalua only took part in an exhibition.

The idea of being the only international band playing with some of the greatest bands in the world was a heavy load, but the music department found another perspective.

"I don't like to think of it as pressure. (Our participation is) more like a responsibility," Moanalua High School Music Director Elden Seta said. "We represent our families, school, community, state, country and, finally, world."

The significance of the opportunity had some of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble students feeling a little stressed.

"I'm nervous because we're going to be the only international band there," senior Daniel Toyooka-Lim said before the event.

But the high caliber of the competition didn't intimidate Seta.

"We can't expect our students to (play like the) Japanese, but to (do the) very best we can," Seta said.

Said Shimamoto of the conference: "The focus was on the decision-making process. When a student is choosing a career, the decision-making process is at the heart of it."

"When we go to conferences," said Toyama, "we usually see that what they're talking about is what we are doing here at Moanalua, so it validates our work."

Seven years ago, Toyama, Shimamoto and Gwen Mau, Moanalua's college and career counselor, developed the school's Career and Academic Planning program.

CAP was held during homeroom period in its first year, but the following year, it became its own weekly class period.

"We wanted to create (a program) that would be age-specific and would allow the students to form relationships with the teachers," said Toyama.

The CAP program was created to meet the needs of individual students.

"When we started it, there were only four counselors to (nearly) 2,000 students, and we just couldn't be there for everyone," said Toyama. "With CAP, every student has a teacher who will stay with them for four years and can help meet their needs."

As the school year approaches the fourth quarter, Toyama and Shimamoto are looking for ways to improve the curriculum for next year.

"We want to make the program more instructive," Toyama said. "Choosing a career is a (cyclical) process of decision-making. We want the CAP program to help students through the decision-making process."

Shimamoto, who has taught her own CAP class, noted: "For the seniors, everything just sort of came together. With all the different lessons they had through their four years in high school, like the PDS (personal data sheet, a resume for students), it made the transition much easier."

Toyama and Shimamoto plan to gather a group of seniors together at the end of this year from every CAP class to evaluate the program and offer input as to how it can be improved.

"What we have with our CAP program," said Toyama, "is a program that really fits the needs of our students here at Moanalua."